Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, in a recent interview with CNBC-TV18, outlined the city’s ambitious Electric Vehicle (EV) policy. He clarified, “This is the final policy, it is not a draft,” which was released two months ago. The policy aims to ensure cleaner air and reduce pollution in Delhi by encouraging a gradual transition to EVs.
Gahlot stated that cab aggregators are being encouraged to transition to EVs gradually. He further clarified that “beyond 2030, all vehicles have to be electric,” making it mandatory for all cab aggregators to switch to EVs.
The minister emphasised that Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is not an absolutely non-polluting fuel. He stated, “The only zero non-polluting vehicle is EVs and not CNG.” However, he added that the idea is not to shut CNG pumps completely but to encourage vehicles to move to EVs gradually.
Gahlot pointed out that most countries globally have moved to non-polluting means of transport. He also mentioned that Delhi is providing enough subsidies for EVs, demonstrating the government’s support for this transition.
When it comes to increasing fleet size, there are specific targets for EV induction. Gahlot explained, “If somebody already has 100 vehicles and if they are going to add one more or two, then some percentage of it has to be electric. But by the end of the fourth year, if you are going to increase your fleet size, then that has to be an electric vehicle only.”
He also highlighted the difference in daily travel distances between commercial and private vehicles. While all commercial vehicles travel 150-200 km daily, private vehicles only cover 30-40 km. This makes commercial vehicles a priority for conversion to EVs, Gahlot added.
The minister proudly shared that they are now at 10% EVs of the total vehicles in Delhi. Despite losing almost 1.5-2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, “We are hopeful that by end of FY24 we are able to achieve this target of 25% of overall vehicle registration being electric.”
(Edited by : Vivek Dubey)
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